Members Only Post #174 – Keys To Mental Health & Clarity

We have a mental health crisis in the Western world. You’ll hear this repeated again and again and again, and there’s much truth to it. Unfortunately the “solution” for most people is simply to throw drugs at problems and hope they go away. And while drugs can help is used in the right away there is another component of mental health that often goes unaddressed. And that is what you can do your own. The things that kept our ancestors sane without the need for drugs.

Granted we live in a different world today, there is no doubt about that. But that doesn’t mean that what worked before won’t work again, won’t at least help. So many problems that I see out there stem from poor mental health and functioning and people not understanding how to achieve either. A man’s and the mind’s capacity to grow, heal, and change would astound most people.

Most of us have been taught limiting beliefs regarding ourselves and our ability to heal and change. I’m not saying to just “believe yourself healthy” though there is something to be said for the power of belief, rather I’m saying don’t think that things are hopeless because they rarely are. For those that don’t give up, there is a way forward, even if it’s a little different than what you first anticipated.

So let’s get into it. Let’s look at some ways to help take care of your mental health and keep your healthy. We’ll start with physical but move on to mental and spiritual as well.

And on more thing, this isn’t medical advice, this is not something to do be instead of taking medicine. Instead this is something to do in addition to your medicine and maybe one day, you might not even need it anymore. But if you do this stuff will still have a net positive effect on your life.

So let’s get started.

Physical Keys To Mental Health

There’s a meme going around that replaces the therapists couch with a bench in a gym. And there’s a lot of truth to that. Not that I’m against therapy by any means but if you’re not doing some form of exercise then you’re doing yourself a disservice when it comes to mental health. Now I’m not saying you have to go to the gym and lift weights, though there’s nothing wrong with that.

Simply that you should have a form of exercise that you do. Go swimming, go on a hike, a walk. I’d say that stuff you do outdoors has an added benefit to it of fresh air and nature. Go lift weights, go to an MMA gym, do gymnastics, or whatever works for you. Just find a way to express your body in motion. There are physical benefits but the mental benefits are numerous as well.

Next thing is make sure you’re spending time outdoors with fresh air and sunlight. Expose yourself to the elements. Go for a walk or hike, maybe read outside. Doesn’t matter if it’s the dead of winter or a sweltering summer day. A little outside exposure is almost always good for you. Just adjust your exposure and exertion depending on the weather outside.

Diet plays a fundamental role in mental health as well. Here’s a list of articles to get you started. You need to make sure you’re not just getting your macros right but also your micronutrient right and the best way to do that is eat nutrient dense foods things like eggs, liver, and the like. And then make sure you’re making sleep a priority. Essentially you’d follow the same steps for getting in shape physically as you would mentally.

Mental Keys To Mental Health

That might seem redundant but mental health has physical, mental, and even spiritual components to it. But let’s address the mental components of mental health. First off I think mindfulness mediation is one of the best things that you can do for your mental health and there’s lots of research that backs this up. But even more important than research, try it for yourself. See how it works for you. Do five to fifteen minutes a day for three months and see the difference that it makes.

Make sure to journal because you aren’t going to be able to remember the changes off the top of your head. In addition to meditation you’ll want to avoid stimulants, depressants, and other drugs. You’ll want to avoid caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, weed, and of course harder drugs. You want to be as drug free as you can possibly be. The less pharmaceuticals you can take, the better off you’ll be.

Addictions are part of and feed into negative mental health. Do what you can to curb them. It might seem a bit flippant to mention them in a paragraph then move on but here’s a good place to start for help fighting addiction. It deals with alcohol but the advice within covers all addictions. Then from there maybe look at more traditional methods of curbing negative addictions and go with that. Meditation also works wonders on this front.

Spiritual Keys To Mental Health

What I’m about to say is controversial yet it’s something that was understood by most of the ancients and only recently has been something that’d be seen as ridiculous. And here it is. Vice has negative effects on you. Not just on your soul but on your body and mental health as well. If you spend your time absorbed in things that you shouldn’t be this isn’t good for you.

Whether it’s greed, jealousy, rage, lust, or whatever else being consumed by these things all have negative effects physically, mentally, and spiritually. Many people spend a good chunk of their time covering up these negative effects but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re there. Now there are good people who are sick and bad people who are healthy so obviously there are more factors here.

But that doesn’t mean that your vice won’t come collecting or that it’s not affecting you mentally. Learn to control your emotions and instincts and you’ll find that your mind is clearer and better functioning. Keep yourself clean physically, mentally, and spiritually. Everything is connected and it all ties together.

And everyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

Best Wishes & God Bless

-Charles Sledge